The present invention relates generally to the automotive industry and more particularly to bulbshields for automotive headlights.
Automotive headlights are well known and commonly used in the art.
Automotive headlights typically comprise a highly polished reflector which is shaped to include a plurality of preformed openings, a low-beam lightbulb which is disposed through one preformed opening in the reflector and a high-beam lightbulb which is disposed through another preformed opening in the reflector. The reflector, the low-beam lightbulb and the high-beam lightbulb are commonly enclosed by a tightly sealed, protective lens cover.
It has been found that, when illuminated, the low-beam lightbulb of an automotive headlight can produce a significant level of glare. This high level of glare produced by an illuminated low-beam lightbulb can seriously impair the ability of other drivers and passerbys to see effectively, thereby creating a very dangerous condition. As a result, the automotive industry has established safety standards for limiting the amount of glare which may be produced by an automotive headlight.
Bulbshields are well known in the art and are commonly mounted over the low-beam lightbulb of an automotive headlamp to reduce the level of glare produced by the lightbulb when illuminated.
Bulbshields typically comprise a cup and a pair of legs mounted onto the cup. The cup includes an interior surface, an exterior surface and an edge scroll formed along its open end in a particular configuration. The interior surface of the cup is typically coated with a light absorbent material, such as black paint. The exterior surface and the edge scroll of the cup are typically chrome-plated and polished so as to be highly light reflective.
In use, bulbshields serve to adequately shield other drivers from direct light produced by low-beam lightbulbs. Specifically, a bulbshield is partially disposed over a low-beam lightbulb. With the bulbshield positioned as such, some of the direct light produced by the lightbulb is absorbed by the interior surface of the cup. The remainder of the direct light produced by the lightbulb is directed onto the edge scroll of the cup. The light directed onto the edge scroll is reflected back onto the reflector of the headlamp which, in turn, is reflected forward and out the headlamp. As can be appreciated, the reflection of the light produced by the low-beam headlight creates a duller projection of light which complies with industry glare standards.
Bulbshields are typically manufactured from multiple pieces of metal which are cut and shaped at different operating stations. Specifically, the cup and the pair of legs of each bulbshield are manufactured separately using two separate primary press operations and two different types of material. Upon completion of the individual parts, in an additional assembly operation, a production worker is required to mechanically attach each of the legs onto the cup, such as by spot welding or rivoting.
Upon completion of manufacturing, the finished bulbshield is mounted onto the reflector of the automotive headlamp using different attachment techniques. For example, one type of bulbshield which is well known in the art is constructed to include a leg which is adapted to be screwed onto a tab formed on the reflector. As another example, another type of bulbshield which is well known in the art is constructed to include a plurality of rigid saw-teeth, or ratchets, formed onto each of the legs. As such, the legs of the bulbshield can be disposed into preformed openings in the reflector so that the ratchets snap-fit and engage the reflector to securely retain the bulbshield onto the reflector.
It should be noted that prior art bulbshields of the type described above often experience notable drawbacks.
As a first drawback, the attachment techniques noted above for mounting prior art bulbshields onto the reflector of the headlamp have been found, on occassion, to be inadequate. Specifically, it has been found that some types of prior art bulbshields are not adequately secured onto the reflector and, as a consequence, fail to satisfy automotive vibration standards.
As a second drawback, the manufacturing process noted above for constructing multiple piece bulbshields has been found to be time-consuming and expensive to complete. Specifically, because the manufacturing process for producing multiple piece bulbshields requires a number of separate parts, separate press operations and an assembly operation in which a production worker mechanically attaches each of the legs onto the cup, the manufacturing process is rendered time-consuming and expensive to perform.
Accordingly, one-piece bulbshields have been manufactured by American Engineered Components, Inc. of Brighton, Massachusetts using a single piece of metal and a plurality of individual tools. Specifically, in the first production step, a flat metal blank is cut using wire electrical-discharge machining (WEDM) so as to yield a primary outline of the one-piece bulbshield. In the second production step, a first drawing tool is used to perform a primary draw of the cup in the primary outline of the one-piece bulbshield. In the third production step, a second drawing tool is used to perform a secondary draw of the cup in the primary outline of the one-piece bulbshield. Having completed the draw of the cup, in the fourth production step, a laser cutting tool precisely cuts the shape of the legs and the configuration of the side scroll into the primary outline of the one-piece bulbshield so as to yield a final outline of the one-piece bulbshield. Having formed the final outline of the one-piece bulbshield, in the fifth production step, a primary leg forming tool begins shaping the legs. In the sixth production step, a secondary leg forming tool continues shaping the legs. In the seventh production step, a third leg forming tool completes the shaping of the legs so as to yield a finished one-piece bulbshield. The finished one-piece bulbshield is then chrome-plated so as to be highly light-reflective. After chrome-plating the bulbshield, the interior surface of the cup is painted black.
Although highly desirable, one-piece bulbshields manufactured in the manner described above still experience a notable drawback. Specifically, one-piece bulbshields manufactured in the manner described above still require various operating stations, each station requiring a separate operating tool and worker, thereby rending the manufacturing process relatively time-consuming and expensive to complete, which is highly undesirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for constructing a bulbshield.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for constructing a bulbshield which is one piece.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of the type described above for constructing a bulbshield which can be securely retained onto the reflector of an automotive headlight.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method of the type described above for constructing a bulbshield which is inexpensive to perform.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of the type described above for constructing a bulbshield using a limited number of operating tools.
Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a one-piece bulbshield from a sheet metal strip using a progressive die press, whererin the sheet metal strip is sequentially advanced through a plurality of stations in said progressive die press, said method comprising the steps of forming an outline of a bulbshield in the sheet metal strip, shaping the outline of the bulbshield to yield a finished one-piece bulbshield, and severing the finished one-piece bulbshield from the remainder of the sheet metal strip.
Additional objects, as well as features and advantages, of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof and in which is shown by way of illustration of an embodiment for practicing the invention. The embodiment will be described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is best defined by the appended claims.